The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

Times of Malta says EU ministers are split on migrant quotas. It also says the number of overseas adoptions has halved. 

MaltaToday says it has asked political parties to declare donations from Mark Gaffarena. The PL did not reply and the PN said it is checking.

The Malta Independent reports that a Malta-registered shell company helped in the embezzlement of millions of Spanish public funds. The newspaper also asks what role Labour activist Ronnie Pellegrini has in the Civil Liberties Ministry.

In-Nazzjon says no one is believing Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon when he says that he knew nothing about the controversial Gaffarena expropriation. It also says the daughter of the finance minister has landed a government job in Brussels.

L-orizzont reports on regular meetings at PN headquarters by a group of civil servants who, it says, leaked information to MP Tonio Fenech.

The overseas press

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that Russian plans to deploy 40 new nuclear ballistic missiles announced by President Vladimir Putin were part of a dangerous pattern of behaviour by Moscow. Le Soir quotes Stoltenberg saying: “This nuclear sabre-rattling by Russia is unjustified, destabilising and it is dangerous.”

According to Sputnik, President Putin announced the new intercontinental ballistic missiles could “overcome any, even the most technologically advanced, missile defence systems”. He warned Russia would be forced to aim its forces at any countries which might threaten it and that it was concerned about anti-missile defence systems being deployed near its borders.

L’Echo reports European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has accused Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of misinforming his people about the EU’s proposals. Juncker was reacting  to accusations by Tsipras that  international creditors wanted to “humiliate not only the government but also the Greek people”, reports the Greek news agency Ana. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told German daily Bild, they did not intend to submit new proposals to tomorrow’s Eurogroup meeting.

Following the broadcast of an Irish documentary, a number of human rights groups are calling on London to take responsibility for its role in colluding with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. According to Irish Central, these actions allegedly resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Catholics, all to support the Crown. The allegations suggest that the British Army’s secret Force Research Unit (FRU) recruited and managed members of paramilitary organisations in its efforts in “destroying” the IRA.

China will pledge a multi-billion dollar investment in Europe’s new infrastructure fund at a summit on June 29 in Brussels, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters – Beijing’s latest round of chequebook diplomacy to win greater influence. The pledge marks the latest step in China’s efforts to shape global economic governance and follows major EU governments’ decision to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in defiance of Washington.

In yet another sign that the global wealth gap is expanding, millionaires are set to possess nearly half the world’s wealth by 2019. Boston Consulting Group’s partner and managing director Anna Zakrzewski told MSNBC, “The wealthier are getting more and more wealthy”: last year there were 17 million millionaires in the world, up from 15 million in 2013, and they now account for 41per cent of the world’s $164 trillion in private wealth, which is expected to rise to 46 per cent share by 2019. 

Corriere della Sera reports nine people, including Silvio Berlusconi’s personal physician, were placed under investigation yesterday in a probe into a suspected €28 million fraud at Milan’s upscale San Raffaele Hospital. Police said that, as well as getting trainees to perform critical procedures, several San Raffaele doctors filed pay sheets claiming to be in more than one operating room at the same time. The allegations were strongly denied by San Raffaele while the doctors said they were “indignant” at what they called “invented” findings.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been quoted saying the unity government formed last year would soon resign. AP reports that during a meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council late yesterday, Abbas said “Hamas didn’t let it work in Gaza”. The government’s inability to operate in Gaza has been a point of dispute between Fatah and Hamas.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio announces senior Hamas members met in Qatar to discuss a possible five-year truce with Israel. The long ceasefire, backed by Qatar and Turkey, is based on a proposal made by UN Special Envoy Nikolay Mladenov. In exchange for the truce, Israel would give the green light to the construction of a port floating off the coast of Gaza.

Fox News says veteran actor John Hurt has been diagnosed with cancer but will keep working and says he is “more than optimistic” about his future. The star, 75, has enjoyed a successful career with notable roles including Quentin Crisp in “The Naked Civil Servant”, the title role in “The Elephant Man” and a recurring role as Mr Ollivander in the Harry Potter films.

LBC Radio says British police are recording 85 child sex crimes every day after a dramatic spike in reports of abuse. Research by the NSPCC found 31,238 allegations of sexual offences against children, including rape and assault, were made in England and Wales in 2013/14 – an increase of more than 33 per cent compared to the previous year.

The FBI is probing a US professional baseball team after a rival club’s computers were hacked, The New York Times reports. Officials with the St Louis Cardinals allegedly infiltrated the Houston Astros’ network to steal closely guarded information about player personnel, compromising internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports.